James Kirkup is The Telegraph's Executive Editor (Politics). He was previously the Telegraph's Political Editor and has worked at Westminster since 2001.

MPs chicken out of ethical food

Been watching Channel Four's recent seriesÂ on battery chickens and what horrible lives they lead.Â Been persuaded to change your shopping habits as a result?Â Well the same can't be said of our MPs.Â

Free range chickens are a rarity in the House of Commons

Nick Harvey, the Lib Dem MP with the dubious honour of answering questions on the running of the Westminster Palace of Varieties, has now revealed that fewer than one in ten of the thousands of chickens devoured by our elected lords and masters is free range.Â Â

Â "The proportion by weight is estimated at 7 per cent of the total," he says.

In total, the Commons estate spent Â£75,300 on chicken last year.Â

And yes, for the record, that includes meat served and eaten by journalists in the Press Gallery and elsewhere around the Palace.